Dozens of shoppers were lined up outside of the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet on the Carlisle Pike in Mechanicsburg before the store opened at 9 a.m. for a special event: the start of an 11-day sale on over 29,000 wedding gowns and formal dresses.

The sale is continuing through February 17 at the two Ollie’s locations in the Harrisburg area, the other being located on Allentown Boulevard in Harrisburg.

“We’ve got wedding dresses are three, four, five thousand dollars, that we’re selling from $199 to $299,” said Scott Osborne, Director of Stores with Ollie’s. “We’re eighty to ninety percent off their pricing on this.”

In addition to nearly 11,000 wedding gowns, Ollie’s also has 18,000 formal, prom and bridesmaids dresses. The gowns are from the Demetrios Bridal design collection, acquired by Ollie’s from a distributor that went out of business.

By 9:30 a.m., the store was teeming with dozens of customers waiting their turn to peruse the selections, with only about 30 having the opportunity to look through the dresses at that point.

“We’ve already given out over 100 tickets to the shopping event,” Osborne said. “We’ve been open for almost 45 minutes. We anticipate this being a huge event throughout the day, but you’ve got to get here: it’s a first come, first serve basis. You’re going to get a better selection the earlier you shop."

Among those early shoppers was a woman who introduced herself as Emily Dobson: "Dobson, for now,” she said, as she is planning for a wedding in June of 2020. When she arrived at Ollie’s at 7:30 a.m., she was ninth in line.

Dobson hadn’t done much shopping for wedding gowns thus far, and as a regular Ollie’s customer, she decided to give their selections a try -- even if she wants something very specific.

“I found bits and pieces -- it’s like I need a couple dresses here," Dobson said. "But it has a really great selection.”

“I got here early, I took the day off, just to make sure I got the best selection,” said Marlene Pinnock, who was shopping for formal gowns for her nieces. “I’m hoping they fit, and that they like the colors that I chose."

All of the dresses are covered by a seven-day return policy, Osborne said, and that the store has “some semi-lovely, semi-private fitting rooms,” though he recommended customers come in athletic wear for trying on gowns.

CORRECTION: In the video, Scott Osborne of Ollie’s incorrectly states that Demetrios Bridal went out of business. A single distributor that was carrying Demetrios gowns went out of business. This story was edited to clarify that distinction.